Pneumatic stacker.



PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

E. L. GRIFFIN.

PNEUMATIC STACKER.

APPLIOATION FILED OO'I.2. 1903.

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NO MODEL.

fiwemfo ni 15 4; 2% q X M W No. 766,343. PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

E. L. GRIFFIN.

PNEUMATIC STAGKER.

APPLICATION FILED 00122. 1903.

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witnesses Inuentori UNITED STATES Patented August 2, 1904.

EZRA L. GRIFFIN, OF MASON CITY, .IOIVA.

PNEUMATIC STACKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,343, dated August 2, 1904.

Application filed October 2,1903. Serial No. 175,435. (No model.)

To all ilk/10m. it mmty concern:

Be it known that I, EZRA L. GRIFFIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mason City, in the county of Oerro Gordo and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Stackers, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to provide an improvement in wind-stackers in which the draft of air from the outside of the drum into the fan can be regulated automatically and, further, to provide a wind-stacker in which the straw passes outside of the fan, so that the substance to be blown by means of the stacker is not thrown into the working mechanism of the fan at any time.

A further object is to provide a wind-stacker which can be attached readily and easily to the ordinary grain-separator and which is so attached to the separator as to allow the grain and chaff to be conveyed into an opening in the drum of the stacker.

A further object is to provide a wind-stacker the drum of which extends across the end of the grainseparator to which the stacker is attached and, further, to provide a fan in the drum which will create suction and cause the straw and chaff which is forced adjacent to the opening in the drum to be drawn into it and beneath the fan.

A further object is to provide a draft-regulator for determining the amount of suction created by the fan. A very material object, however, of the invention is to allow the straw to pass entirely beneath the fan as it passes through the stacker and to provide means for regulating the amount of draft through the stacker.

A further object is to provide conveyers for forcing the straw and chaff to the opening in the drum of the stacker and to provide a stacker which can be condensed into a small amount of space in shipping.

A further object is to provide a regulator for the damper which regulates the blast of air through the stacker by the speed of the shaft upon which the fan is mounted.

My invention consists in certain details in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as i hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the rear 1 end of a grain-separator with my stacker attached to it. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the stacker attached to the grain-separator. A portion of the stacker is cut away to show the fan on the interior of its'drum. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the grain-separator, showing the way in which my stacker is attached to it. Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation of the drum of my stacker, showing the draft-regulator in an open position and also showing clearly the draft which is controlled by the speed of the shaft upon which the fan of my stacker is mounted. This view also shows the damper for regulating the suction created by the fan. It also shows in dotted lines this damper in its open position. Fig. 5 is a detail rear elevation of that end of the drum of my stacker to which the draftregulator is attached and shows the means of mounting the draft-regulator, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the rods which are connected with the dampers for regulating the flow of straw through the stacker.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference-numeral 10 to indicate the grain-separator to which my stacker is attached. Extending rearwardly from the lower rear end of the grain-separator are the supporting-braces 11 andlQ. These supporting-braces are on each side of the grain-separator. Mounted between these supports is the drum l3. Said drum is substantially circular in cross-section; but it has an opening 1a in its forward upper periphery, and the lower forward portion 15 is bent forwardly to form a larger opening and one of easy access. Mounted at the rear of the drum and attached to it is the chute 16, there being an opening at the lower end of the chute into the drum 13. l have provided a hinge between the lower portion of the chute 16 and the upper portion thereof. This hinge is designated by the numeral '18, and it is so arranged that one part of the hinge is detachable from the other part thereof, so that the upper portion of the chute may be removed from the lower portion of it at the desire of they operator.

Rotatably mounted a slight distance above the central portion of the drum and extending longitudinally of it is the fan-supporting shaft 19. This fan-supporting shaft 19 has the fan-arms 20 mounted thereon, and these arms are of substantially the same length as the distance between theshaft 19 and the interior top portion of the drum. It will be clearly seen, then, that the lower end of the arm 20, which is below the shaft 19, will be some distance above the lower interior portion of the drum, and this provides a passageway from the opening 14 through the drum 13 beneath the fan and out through the opening 17 into the chute 16. It is to be understood in this connection that as the straw and chaff are fed into the. opening 14 it will be drawn downwardly by the suction created by the fan and then forced beneath the lower edge of the fan and out through the chute 16, and on account of the way in which the fan is constructed the straw or chaff will never be forced into engagement with the arms of the fan.

Mounted above the drum 13 and between the sides of the separator and beneath the rear of the straw-advancing mechanism of the grain-separator is a conveyer 21, so arranged as to feed the straw from the straw-advancing mechanism of the grain-separator into the opening 14 of the drum. I have also provided a conveyer 22, which is beneath the chaff-carrier and slightly at the rear of it and partially above the opening 14 in the drum to convey the chafl from the chaff-carrier into the opening 14. The conveyer 21 is mounted on the shaft 23, which shaft is at its upper end. The lower end of this conveyer is arranged so that it can swing upwardly to allow easy access into the interior of the separator. Mounted at the outer end of the shaft 23 is the belt-wheel 24, by which the shaft 23 is driven, as hereinafter described. At the outer end of one of the shafts 25, upon which the conveyer 22 is mounted, is a belt-wheel 26 for operating the conveyer. This belt-wheel is connected, by means of the belt 27, with one of the driven belt-wheels 28 of the grain-separator. These wheels 26 and 28 are so attached to each other by means of the belt-wheel 27 that when the grain-separator is in operation these wheels and belt will be constantly driven, and thus the conveyer 22 will be operated. These wheels 24, 26, and 28 are preferably mounted on the right-hand side of the grain-separator looking at the machine from the front end of it. Mounted on that end of the shaft 19 which is beneath the belt-wheel 24 and outside of the drum 13 is the driving-wheel 29. Immediately inside of this driving-wheel 29 is the belt-wheel 30, said belt-wheel 30 being firmly mounted on the shaft 19. Passing over the wheel 30 and the wheel 24 is the belt 31, so

arranged that as the shaft 19 is rotated by the driving-wheel 29 being rotated the wheel 24 will be rotated in the corresponding direction. The drive-wheel 29 is operated by means of the belt 32, which is passed over it and a wheel connected with the cylinder of the separator. Illustration of this cylinder is deemed unnecessary, as it is the ordinary one, and the belt 32 is simply connected with the cylinder in the ordinary way that any belt would be connected with said cylinder.

In each end of the drum 13 and beneath the shaft 19 I have provided an opening 33, said opening being considerably less in width than the length of the arms 20 of the fan, and the lower edge of this opening is a slight distance above the lowest portion of the fan-arms at any position of their rotary movement. Pivotally mounted outside of the opening 33 to each head of the'drum 13 is the damper 34. These dampers 34 are thus attached by means of the pivots 35 and are designed in one position to cover entirely the opening 33 and in I their other position to be swung away partially from said opening, so as to allow the flow of air from the exterior of the drum into the interior of it. At the forward lower edge of the damper I have provided a support 36. Mounted on said support is the counterbalancing-weight 37, so arranged that the damper will be maintained in position over the opening 33, except when some outside force is brought to bear upon the damper to force it away from the openings 33.

Mounted above the shaft 19 and in each end of the drum 13 is an opening 38, similar to the opening 33, except that it is smaller in size. Mounted outside of these openings are the dampers 39, said dampers being pivotally mounted to the ends of the drum by means of the pivot 40. Said dampers can be maintained in position over the opening 39 or swung away from the opening 39, as it is desired by the operator when he desires to create more or less suction for drawing the straw and chaff into the drum of the stacker.

Mounted outside of the drum 13 and between it and the belt-wheel 30 and on the shaft 19 is the beveled gear-wheel 41. In mesh with the gear-wheel 41 and rotatably mounted above it is the gear-wheel 42, having the shaft 43 extending upwardly from it.

Mounted on this shaft 43 is the centrifugal ballgovernor 44, comprising the ordinary parts of such a governor, said governor being designed to actuate the lever 45. This lever 45 comprises the portion 46, which extends longitudinally of the drum and on the upper outside portion of it. This portion 46 is rotatably mounted on said drum. Extending forwardly from the portion 46 are the rods 47, one of said rods being connected with the centrifugal ballgovernor. Extending downwardly from the forward ends of the rods 47 and connected with it arev the rods 48, said rods being attached at their lower ends to the dampers 34s by means of the pivots I9. This draft-regulator is so arranged that as the speed of the shaft 19 diminishes the damper will be drawn away from the opening 33, and thus allow more air to enter the drum, thus creating a greater amount of draft into the drum for forcing straw from the drum out through the chute 16. Assuming that the damper 3% is open and that the shaft 19 is rotated very rapidly, when the speed of this shaft is suflicient the damper will be automatically closed* that is, thrown into its position over the opening 33.

In practical use and assuming that my stacker has been attached to the separator, the rear end of which is shown, and the belts for driving the conveyers and fan are properly adjusted and that the damper 3et-is in its open position and the damper 39 in a closed position and that the fan is rotating, the straw and chaff will be fed from the separator by means of the conveyers 21 and 22 into the opening H, and the feeding will also be assisted into said opening by means of the suction which is caused by the rotation of the fan, and as the fan is mounted on the shaft, which is above the center of the drum and extends longitudinally of it the arms 20 come very near to the upper portion of the sides of the drum and create a certain amount of vacuum in the upper portion of the drum as the fan rotates, which produces a suction and draws material into the interior of the drum when thus placed outside of the opening 1%.

The straw and chaff will then flow beneath the fan and on the inside of the drum and out through the chute, and on account of the arms of the fan coming very near the upper edge of the opening 17 no chatf or straw will be allowed to get into the space above the shaft 19. It will be clearly seen that this method of feeding the straw beneath the fan is very advantageous in that no straw will be forced into the arms of the fan, the damper 34 being so mounted as to allow the air to pass on top of the straw and force it downwardly while the air from the fans is forcing it rearwardly and upwardly. As the speed of the shaft 19 increases the centrifugal ball-governor will act to draw the dampers 34 to a closed position, and thus cause a less amount of air to pass through the stacker. hen the suction for drawing the chaff and straw into the drum of the stacker is too great, the operator can diminish it by regulating the damper 39. As has been intimated above, this stacker can be easily attached to and detached from any of the ordinary separators. it simply being a question of the arrangement of the conveyers 21 and In some machines but one of these conveyers need be used, and in others it is not necessary to use either. This stacker can also be assembled into a small amount of space easily. It might be further said that as the fan is rotating very rapidly and when the damper 34 is closed and the speed of the driving mechanism of the fan is diminished with a view to throwing the mechanism of the separator and its attachments out of operation the damper 3% will be thrown open, and therefore cause a very strong blast of air to be driven through the chute, and thus clean out the chute thoroughly even though the speed of the rotation of the fan is being diminished by slowing up the entire driving mechanism of the separator. This, it will be seen, is a great advantage, for the stacker-chute is clean when this is done, in condition for future use.

For convenience in making some of the claims I have termed the portion between the head of the drum, which in other places is designated as sides, as the cylinder of the drum.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States therefor, is-

1. In a stacker, the combination of a drum having a strawreceiving inlet and a strawoutlet, a fan rotatably mounted in said drum for forcing the straw through the said drum, also having damper-controlled openings in the head thereof, and means connected with said fan for automatically regulating the valves of the damper-controlled openings, for the purposes stated.

2. In a stacker, the combination of a drum having two end portions therein, a cylinder into which said end portions are fitted, said cylinder having an inlet and an outlet opening, said heads having an opening in each of them, a damper attached near said openings in the heads, a fan rotatably mounted in the upper portion of said cylinder for allowing the substance to be stacked to pass under it, and means controlled by the fan for automatically regulating the dampers, for the purposes stated.

3. In a stacker, the combination of a drum having an inlet-opening and an outlet-opening, a fan rotatably mounted in the upper portion of said drum, so arranged as to leave a passage-way beneath it from the inlet-opening to the outlet-opening, a damper in said drum for regulating the blast of air through the drum when the fan is rotated, and means for automatically regulating the damper by the rotary speed of the fan, for the purposes stated.

*i. In a stacker, the combination of a drum having two heads therein and a cylinder between said heads, said cylinder having an inlet-opening at one side thereof and an outward opening at its other side, a fan rotatably mounted between said heads in such a way that it is adjacent to one side of the cylinder and away from the other side of the cylinder as it is rotated, leaving a passage-way between the fan and the side of the cylinder which is away from it between the inlet-opening and the outlet-opening, one of the heads of the drum having an air-inlet opening, and a clamper for said air-inlet opening for regulating the blast of air through the drum and the outlet-opening, and means for automatically regulating said damper by the rotary speed of the fan, for the purposes stated.

5. In a stacker, the combination of a drum having an inlet-opening and an outlet-opening, a .fan rotatably mounted in the drum and adjacent to one of its sides and some distance away from the side of it so that as the fan is rotated a certain amount of vacuum will be created between the fan and the side which is adjacent to it so as to cause a suction to draw substances from the outside of the drum into the inlet-opening of the drum, a damper for controlling the amount of suction from the outside of the drum into the inlet-opening as the fan is rotated, means controlled by the rotation of the fan for automatically regulating the damper, for the purposes stated.

6. In a stacker, the combination of a drum having an inlet-opening and an outlet-opening, a fan rotatably mounted in the drum and adjacent to one of its sides so that as the fan is rotated a certain amount of vacuum will be created between the fan and the side which is adjacent to it so as to cause a suction to draw substances from the outside of the drum into the inlet-opening of the drum, a damper for controlling the amount of suction from the outside of the drum into the inlet-opening as the fan is rotated, said fan being some distance away from one of the sides to make a passage-way between the inlet-opening and the outlet-opening outside of said fan as it is rotated, an air-inlet opening in the drum and means for regulating the quantity of air to be admitted into the drum, for the purposes stated.

7 In a wind-stacker, the combination of a drum, a fan rotatably mounted in said drum, said drum having an opening to receive the substance to be stacked, and an opening for allowing the substance to be stacked to pass out of the drum, a driving mechanism for operating said fan, and a damper controlled by the rotary speed of the fan for regulating the blast of air through the drum, for the purposes stated.

8. In astacker, the combination of adrum, a cylinder forming its body portion, heads at tached to said cylinder, said cylinder having a straw-receiving inlet and a straw-outlet, a chute attached to the cylinder and outside of said straw-outlet, a fan rotatably mounted in said cylinder adjacent to one side of it and some distance away from its other side so as to create a vacuum between the fan and the other side of the cylinder which is adjacent to the fan so that a passage-way will be made for the straw outside of the fan at that portion of the cylinder which is away from the fan and between the straw-receivinginlet and the straw-outlet, and a damper for regulating the suctioncreated by the fan for drawing the straw into the drum, for the purposes stated.

9. In a stacker, the combination of adrum, a cylinder forming its body portion, heads attached to said cylinder, said cylinder having a straw-receiving inlet and a straw-outlet, a chute attached to the cylinder and outside of said straw-outlet, a fan rotatably mounted in said cylinder adjacent to one side of it and some distance away from its other side so as to create a vacuum between the fan and the other side of the cylinder which is adjacent to it so that a passage-way will be made for the straw outside of the fan at that portion of the cylinder which is away from the fan and between the straw-receiving inlet and the strawoutlet and a damper for regulating the suction created by the fan for drawing the straw into the drum, a damper for regulating the quantity of air to be driven through the cylinder outlet-opening, and means controlled by the rotary speed of the fan for adjusting the damper which regulates the quantity of air to be driven through the straw-outlet opening, for the purposes stated.

EZRA L. GRIFFIN.

Witnesses:

M. H. PRIOHARD, A. W. DUNLAP. 

